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Major Writing Systems of the World - Markdown

World languages are recorded through diverse writing systems. This resource explains classification systems based on the nature and structure of characters, including alphabets, syllabaries, logographies, abjads, and abugidas. It comprehensively summarizes the characteristics, languages used, and historical backgrounds of each writing system, providing foundational information useful for understanding scripts in multilingual environments.

writing systems alphabet kanji kana cyrillic arabic script linguistics orthography

| code | slug | name | description | examples | languages |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 01 | alphabet | Alphabet (Full Phonographic) | A writing system where consonants and vowels are represented by independent letters. | Latin script, Cyrillic script, Greek script, Armenian script, Georgian script | English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, Greek, etc. |
| 02 | latin-script | Latin Script | Originating from ancient Rome, it is the most widely used alphabet in the world. | A, B, C, D, E... | English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and over 100 other languages |
| 03 | cyrillic-script | Cyrillic Script | An alphabet primarily used in Slavic language regions. | А, Б, В, Г, Д... | Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Belarusian, etc. |
| 04 | logography | Logography (Logographic) | A writing system where characters directly represent words or meanings. | Chinese characters, Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, Khmer script, Mayan glyphs | Chinese, Japanese (Kanji), Korean (historical), Vietnamese (historical) |
| 05 | kanji | Chinese Characters (Kanji/Hanzi) | Logographic characters originating from China, the only widely used logographic system today. | 山 (mountain), 川 (river), 人 (person), 愛 (love), 龍 (dragon)... | Chinese, Japanese, Korean (historical), Vietnamese (historical) |
| 06 | syllabary | Syllabary | A writing system where one character represents one syllable. | Hiragana, Katakana, Cherokee syllabary, Canadian Aboriginal syllabics, Vai script | Japanese, Cherokee, Canadian Aboriginal languages, Vai (Liberia) |
| 07 | kana | Kana (Hiragana and Katakana) | Syllabaries used in Japanese, consisting of hiragana and katakana. | あいうえお (hiragana), アイウエオ (katakana) | Japanese |
| 08 | abjad | Abjad (Consonantary) | A writing system primarily representing consonants, with vowels inferred from context. | Arabic script, Hebrew script, Syriac script, Aramaic script | Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Urdu, Pashto, etc. |
| 09 | arabic-script | Arabic Script | A consonantary used for Arabic and other languages. | ا ب ت ث ج ح خ... | Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Pashto, Uyghur, Malay (historical), etc. |
| 10 | abugida | Abugida (Alphasyllabary) | A writing system where vowels are indicated by diacritical marks attached to consonant letters. | Devanagari, Thai script, Khmer script, Burmese script, Ethiopic script, Tamil script | Hindi, Sanskrit, Thai, Khmer, Burmese, Amharic, Tamil, etc. |
| 11 | hangul | Hangul | A distinctive writing system used for the Korean language. | ㄱㄴㄷㄹㅁㅂㅅ... (consonants), ㅏㅑㅓㅕㅗ... (vowels) | Korean |